Accepting/Declining Financial Aid

Once you have received a Notification of Award, you need to accept or decline the financial aid awarded to you. Your Notification of Award will provide a list of certain types of financial aid for which you are eligible. Scholarships, grants and federal loans are listed in columns divided among the terms of your academic year.

Accepting scholarships and grants

If your Notification of Award indicates that you have been awarded a scholarship or a grant, we have already assumed that you will accept this award. In many cases your department has awarded the money to you, and the Notification of Award serves simply to inform you that the funds are ready to be disbursed (that is, transferred from the department's account to your student account).

Accepting Federal Direct Loans for the first time

The Federal Direct Loan program has a two-step acceptance process. The first step allows you to inform us of the amount and type of the Federal Direct Loans you wish to accept. The second step allows you to complete the Entrance Loan Counseling requirement and an electronic Master Promissory Note (eMPN).

Step One: Amount and Type of Federal Direct Loans

The amount offered to you is the maximum you may borrow. You may accept a lesser amount. You may also accept only the subsidized component of the loan, and decline the unsubsidized component. Or, if you do not wish to accept any loan, you may decline both loans.

If this is the first time you have borrowed a Federal Direct Loan, you will need to complete step two. After you have completed step one, the Graduate Financial Aid Office will notify you when it is appropriate to move on to step two. We will start this process in mid-July for fall semester. We will direct you by e-mail or written correspondence to complete Entrance Loan Counseling and an eMPN online. Entrance Loan Counseling is a federal requirement and is designed to inform you of your rights and responsibilities as a student loan borrower. The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is a legal document in which you promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education.